The Sword Genius of the Magic Empire - Chapter 31



Only Noblemtl

In front of the building.

Lien was leaning against the wall in the darkness of the alley.

When she sensed someone’s presence and glanced in this direction, her expression was as emotionless as usual.

However, the apron of her maid’s uniform and her white cheeks were clearly stained with a few red stains.

‘also.’

Enoch clicked his tongue inwardly when he realized that there was no longer any noise around the building.

In the city map that Omen handed over during the day, there were twelve specific deployment points for the guards.

Even though they were up against the captain of the guard, it seemed like Lien had finished off the rest by himself in the time it took for them to subdue only four points.

As expected, I feel once again that she is a 10th-grade wizard.

Enoch walked past Lien and spoke quietly.

“If you finish first, I’ll help you out.”

“I didn’t feel any threat to your life.”

Lien followed, pointing to the nape of her neck with her finger.

Enoch nodded.

‘Is it true that the location can only be determined when magic is activated through a threat to life?’

Certainly, unlike the last time she was in danger in Leopolis, this time there seemed to be no reaction to the magic she cast on this side.

“It wasn’t a fight worth fighting.”

“I should have done that.”

Lien replied coldly, saying so.

“If you harm my master any more, I will make you pay in some way.”

Her silver-blue eyes, which spoke in a colder voice than usual, stared straight at me.

Enoch answered calmly.

“… Don’t try.”

It’s not that it wasn’t true, Enoch’s body was covered in minor wounds from his previous missions.

What’s more, after a few days of training to get used to the sword, they are immediately deployed on a mission.

Of course, Enoch’s current physical condition was not the best. That must be what Lien was pointing out.

Well, I had to pay attention to those parts too.

‘In fact, because of all the accumulated fatigue, I haven’t been able to inherit the next swordsmanship of Jechoi Geom yet.’

That’s understandable, although the process of entering the inner world is simple, it requires considerable concentration.

Even after returning from the mission, I tried to enter the inner world several times, but failed every time due to poor condition.

So I was a little nervous.

Of course, inheriting swordsmanship is also necessary for spec-up.

But now, rather than failing to inherit the swordsmanship itself, something else was holding me back.

‘According to my memory from last time… I think Jechoi Sword was also related to the ‘Demon’.’

At that moment, the words Omen had spoken during the day flashed through my mind.

[As you know, Persona is a black magician known to be directly under Tantalus. He is a magician who readily agrees with human experiments that are taboo in the Empire.]

[Although its purpose is not yet well known, the “Masuhwa Experiment” is also a type of human experiment.]

The human experiment of Tantalus, a black magician affiliated with Vendetta who also appeared in the original work.

It seems that his subordinate Persona was also conducting or involved in similar experiments.

‘But did the last swordsman of the empire, who lived a long time ago, say the same thing?’

The more I thought about it, the more questions I had.

It is still unknown what connection there is between the demonic experiment that the Sword Master knew of in the past and the demonic experiment that Tantalus is currently conducting…

‘You’ll find out soon enough.’

Enoch took a card key out of his pocket and inserted it into the entrance of the building.

Beep.

Inside the building’s massive door that recognizes the card key.

The front door of the abandoned casino slowly opened, accompanied by the noise of a machine unlocking its internal door mechanism.

A dark interior was revealed before my eyes.

[Persona is on the top floor of the temporary branch building.]

In Enoch’s mind, the words Omen had spoken during the day flashed through his mind once again.

Anyway, the goal of this mission is to eliminate the Personas under Tantalus.

Of course, it is important to destroy the regular members of the Vendetta she leads. However, if you fail to capture the leader, Persona, you will not be recognized as having succeeded in the immunity mission.

From the beginning, the main goal of the exemption mission was to prove oneself by killing Persona, who was known as Tantalus’ confidant and a dangerous black magician.

Thud, thud… .

Behind the black-haired boy, a maid with flowing white hair followed.

Inside an empty building.

The sound of two footsteps echoed through the darkness of the night, leaving a regular echo.

‘That’s strange.’

Enoch repeated as he climbed the stairs.

Scattered trump cards and gambling chips were scattered around the dark room.

Moreover, the broken slot machines and roulette tables clearly showed that this place used to be a prosperous casino.

but….

‘How is it that there is not a single sign of life in such a large building?’

By now, Vendetta must have realized that they had been attacked, so why are they so quiet?

[Tell me something that might give you a hint about Persona.]

In the extremely unnatural silence of the room.

Enoch suddenly remembered what Omen had said about Persona earlier in the day.

[As you know, the unique magic of wizards of level 10 or higher is said to be completed by reflecting ‘emotions’.]

As if telling me to listen carefully, Omen in my memory raised one finger while leaning forward.

[Intense emotions. So-called desires, guilt, anger, obsession, fear… All of these emotions become the motivation to manifest unique magic and also elevate wizards to the level of 10 or higher.]

Enoch nodded briefly in front of him.

Of course, it was a story we all knew.

[I don’t know the principle behind it, but the unique magic that is expressed based on emotions is ultimately diverse. Therefore, the unique magic used by magicians of level 10 or higher is something that can never be grasped.]

[What do you want to say?]

In the end, Omen’s rambling was nothing more than a list of facts.

But Omen spoke quietly, as if to tell him to listen.

[If you don’t know the type of magic unique to each Persona, you can’t predict the outcome of the battle.]

He added with a sly smile.

[Let me give you a piece of advice. Once you successfully enter a casino with a persona, it would be a good idea to prepare for any unexpected situations.]

widely.

When we finally reached the top floor of the building.

The interior at the top was so dark that nothing could be seen except for a dim light.

Enoch paused for a moment and took something out of Rob’s arms.

A small fox doll that Chloe gave me as a gift.

A homemade artifact that she had made herself at the Leopolis orphanage a while ago.

It’s just a doll that glows in the dark, and can be used by non-magicians as well.

But nothing was as useful as that now.

Hwaak.

A bright white light spread from the fox doll. And as the halo of light spread out, the entire interior illuminated by the light came into view.

Enoch’s eyes became faint as he looked around for a moment.

-laboratory.

I had no choice but to express it that way.

Traces of the former casino building that we had seen so far were nowhere to be found here.

Metal pipes, extending out here and there like blood vessels, filled all directions.

And the test tube with all those pipes connected.

The figures trapped there are none other than… .

“Test subject demons.”

Enoch muttered quietly.

The unconscious, sleeping monster in the test tube was staring straight at me with its empty eyes.

Dozens of demons, crafted in a much more elaborate and threatening form than those seen in Leopolis.

It was a figure that resembled a human even more than before.

But there was one difference that stood out.

The people trapped in the test tubes, unlike before, had ‘beast ears and tails’.

In other respects, they were no different from normal people, but the only difference was the pointed animal ears and tails that sprouted from their heads.

Enoch, seeing this, guessed that they were not using ordinary humans as their materials.

‘It’s different from the test subjects I saw last time.’

Judging from the external appearance of the animal, such as its ears and tail, which are not present in normal people, it was very likely that it was a ‘subhuman’ species that was used as a scapegoat for the experiment.

And I could roughly guess what kind of people they were.

‘Judging by their appearance, the experimental material is a race of humans… Among them, are they the “Suin Tribe”?’

Their hideously mutated bodies inside the test tube had numerous metal pipes connected to them.

It was a much more horrifying sight than anything I had ever seen in a laboratory in Leopolis.

at that time.

Suddenly, a current of mana I had never experienced before swept through the surroundings like a strong wind.

Immediately afterwards, a low sobbing sound suddenly brushed past my ears.

-Krrrrrrr!

Enoch quickly checked his surroundings.

The demons in the test tubes suddenly started to break the test tubes with their eyes shining and twist their bodies.

“The demons….”

The moment Enoch and Lien turned their gazes at the same time.

At that moment, a loud, creaking noise was heard from above, along with a creepy frictional sound.

From above in the dark room, something fell between them at incredible speed.

A thick bulkhead dropped by the building’s machinery.

Suddenly, a barrier fell from the ceiling and crashed down in front of Enoch with a dull noise, separating him from Lien, who was standing next to him.

Kwaaaaang!

It was such a sudden event that I couldn’t even react.

Enoch assessed the situation in an instant.

‘Did you split this part up on purpose?’

To be exact, Lien is trapped alone in a room where demons are lurking.

Enoch, who was completely isolated from Lien, took a step forward to check the barrier first.

─Tak.

And when he took one step on the floor.

In an instant, a strange sensation washed over my whole body.

“… … ?”

Enoch immediately looked around.

Before I knew it, the surrounding environment had changed.

The laboratory where the demon had been, the bulkhead that had just fallen before my eyes, and even the sights and sounds inside the building had all disappeared.

‘No, it didn’t disappear. It was dragged to another space.’

Enoch concluded at once.

Through countless experiences of entering the inner world, I was soon able to grasp it.

But of course, this was not the world of his imagination that he had always seen.

Because they were so different from the start.

It was so different from Enoch’s inner world, which was clean, infinitely expansive, and even mysterious.

‘Why is this space so messy?’

I raised my head and looked around, and the area was covered in a whitish darkness that looked like it was made up of pieces.

It’s as if someone had tried to forcefully create a space that resembled Enoch’s inner world.

Just looking at it, I could tell that it was very poorly completed compared to my inner world.

And just as Enoch was thinking that.

A sweet voice came from right next to my ear.

“hi?”

A chill ran down his spine for a moment. Enoch knew instinctively what it was when he heard that voice.

“Persona”

A direct subordinate of the Destroyer Tantalus, he is the deputy leader of the regular members of the Vendetta under his command.

And this is the last step of the exemption mission, and the one ordered to be eliminated… … .

A 10th level, black magician.